Hamas

Israeli PM says allegation that UAE president alerted him more than a week before major offensive is ‘absolute lie’Benjamin Netanyahu was personally alerted by the president of the United Arab Emirates that Hamas was planning a large-scale offensive against Israel a week before its 7 October 2023 attack, but did not act on the warning, according to a book by Haaretz reporters.The claim, which comes amid a crucial election campaign, prompted Israeli opposition leaders to describe the prime minister as “unfit” for office, even as Netanyahu denounced the report as an “absolute lie” and denied he spoke to the Emirati leader at that time. Continue reading...

• The U.S. Justice Department has seized $560,000 in cryptocurrency used by Hamas terrorists to fund their operations. • The seizure targeted online fundraising and recruitment infrastructure, cutting off a critical digital financial pipeline for the organization. • This action matters as it demonstrates the U.S. government's ability to track and disrupt decentralized financial assets used by designated terrorist groups.

Jared Kushner set to meet Netanyahu following talks with HamasJared Kushner meets with Hamas ahead of talks with Netanyahu on GazaWelcome to our live coverage of the latest in the continuing conflicts in the Middle East.Donald Trump’s envoys met with Egyptian, Qatari and Turkish mediators in Cairo on Sunday, a diplomatic source said, aiming to advance the US president’s Gaza peace plan, even as Israel pressed on with airstrikes ⁠in the territory.Israel resumed its airstrikes on Gaza in the past few days ‌after scaling back the attacks earlier this month. One of those wounded in the Khan Younis strike died from their wounds, medics at Nasser hospital said later. A separate airstrike, which the Israeli military said targeted another militant, hit an apartment in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, wounding several people, medics said.A senior Israeli official said on Sunday that Israel was concerned about Washington’s demand to end targeted assassinations of Hamas militants in Gaza as the group rebuilds its forces, Reuters reported. Trump’s peace ⁠plan calls for the immediate cessation of military operations in Gaza and foresees Hamas disarming as Israeli troops withdraw from the territory and Gaza is rebuilt.Several regional powers including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on Sunday condemned Israel’s rejection of the peace road map, saying the country is obstructing peace efforts.The top US military commander in the Middle East visited the USS Lincoln in the Arabian Sea amid reports of mental health and supply issues onboard. Adm Brad Cooper praised the leadership of the long-deployed aircraft carrier. Continue reading...

Trump’s son-in-law and envoy held rare meeting with Hamas chief in Egypt in push for progress on ceasefireDonald Trump’s son-in-law and envoy, Jared Kushner, held a rare meeting with Hamas’s political chief on Sunday in Egypt, in a new diplomatic effort to make progress in the stalled Gaza ceasefire. Kushner will meet on Monday with Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under pressure after rejecting the new 15-point, US-backed road map.The talks aim to salvage the plan for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territory shattered by war. Continue reading...

• Former Israeli PM Naftali Bennett accused Benjamin Netanyahu of abandoning the goal of defeating Hamas and effectively handing control of Gaza to Qatar. • The IDF is tightening its strike policy in Gaza, now requiring the chief of staff's explicit approval for certain operations. • The Central Elections Committee has banned poll workers from updating political parties on voter turnout to protect citizen privacy.

• Donald Trump has characterized a proposed Gaza peace deal as a "great breakthrough" on August 1, 2026. • Despite Trump's optimism, both Israel and Hamas continue to disagree on several key conditions required to finalize the agreement. • This diplomatic friction highlights the ongoing difficulty in securing a lasting ceasefire and stability in the region.

• Hamas has conditioned the implementation of a new U.S.-brokered Gaza peace framework on Israel first fulfilling commitments from a previous agreement reached in Sharm el Sheikh last year. • To proceed, Hamas demands that Israel end military operations, withdraw forces to October positions, and increase the flow of humanitarian aid and commercial goods into the territory. • The group stated it will only transfer its weapons to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, a newly established technocratic governing body, once these conditions are met.